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Two ski resort workers have been killed in Morillon, a French Alps destination popular with Britons, by explosives they were using to spark an avalanche to keep the slopes safe for skiers.

Their deaths came as three German cross-country skiers died and a fourth was reported missing following an avalanche in western Austria.

The incident in Morillon occurred at around 8:30 am local time on Sunday as the workers were preparing the explosives at a height of 1,800 meters in the family resort in the Haut-Giffre valley.

Police said it had been confirmed that they were killed by the explosion and did not die after being caught up in the avalanche the blast set off.

They had been sent out to do their job in the Lanches sector of the resortbefore the ski slopes were opened to the public, after a night of heavy snowfall. Skiers had been warned that the risk of avalanche was at four on a scale of one to five.

Setting off explosives, often dynamite, is a common technique used in ski resorts to spark avalanches that might otherwise happen when slopes are packed with skiers.

Various methods are used, with some involving ski workers skiing to a spot above where experts believe the avalanche may take place, placing explosives there and later detonating them remotely.

“The specialist pisteurs who are involved in securing the trails and roads from avalanches with explosive devices go through extensive training,” said Henry Schniewind from Henry’s Avalanche Talk, a website which offers advice and training for off-piste skiers.

“Their job involves hazards from avalanche danger that most of us are aware of; the danger from explosives seems less apparent. Today’s tragedy is a reminder to us all about how brave these men and women are,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

It was not immediately clear which avalanche control method was being used by the workers in Morillon, where a 21-year-old skier was killed by a falling tree earlier this month.

The mountain gendarme unit from the town of Chamonix has been tasked with the investigation into their deaths and has sent officers to the scene, where they will work with rescue workers from the resorts of Flaine and Araches.

The deaths reported in Austria were those of two men aged 32 and 36 and a third aged 56, all German cross-country skiers, who were found on Saturday evening, while a 28-year-old man still missing.

The avalanche that killed them came after several days of heavy snowfall which saw the army called in to secure roads and buildings and help with a number of evacuations.